bakerstreet | House of leaves

House of leaves

Hallways*: a free form horror meme

Wherever you meant to go is not where you are. When you look back, there is no door.

A hallway stretches out in front of you, with branching corridors and closed doors as far as the eye can see. There are hints of other people around - sounds and voices of others who have found themselves trapped in this space, or those who were originally here. Not everyone is friendly.

Just remember: any door you go through will cease to exist. You must go forwards to get out.

So, will you make it?

*It doesn't have to be a hallway, you might end up in a kitchen that tries to eat you, or knee deep in water of a basement somewhere when you were just on the 18^th story.

Warning: tags in this post will deal with themes that include violence, blood, gore and other horror topics. Please communicate your preferences with your threading partners.

Starters and thread hopping is encouraged.

Inspiration from HOUSE of Leaves and

cardio_swindle.

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... Hello?

[Her voice echoes in spite of the hints of noise in the distance. Julie's hands reach for the long locks of hair draped over her shoulders, holding onto them like lifelines in this moment of doubt.

Julie well understands she's small but she's never felt this tiny before. The hallway before her seems absolutely endless, completely alien from it's numerous doors to the cheerful heart patterned wallpaper on it's walls. Yet looking at it ...]

This looks familiar.

[It doesn't. It does. It -- Julie shakes her head like she's trying to rattle something out of her head. Maybe she should try one of the doors? That sounds sensible to her. Or more than sensible it looks like it's really the only thing she can do.

For all the unease she feels now Julie is usually a courageous soul. Step forward, take charge, that's Julie Joyful! So she tries to summon up some of that as her echoing footsteps approach a door and slowly, carefully eases it open.]

It doesn't make any sense.

[ from outside of the closet, Nancy's room looks perfectly normal. from the outside, in fact, the Wheelers' house looks perfectly normal. even when she throws her closet door open and gestures inside, nothing is immediately amiss; her clothes are hung neatly on hangers in a pastel swirl, her shoes stacked on the floor underneath. but when she reaches her arms up to thrust the clothes apart, it becomes clear that something is ... off. behind the rack, where the wall should be, there's a doorway that definitely wasn't there before. it leads to a hallway that stretches out a couple feet deep, ending in shadow. ]

I was putting laundry away last night, and noticed the doorway. It was only a foot deep, like a closet inside a closet. Now ...

[ Nancy peers into the hallway, her mouth tugged into a frown, hands twisting around her flashlight. ] It's growing.

[The halls of an Imperial Star Destroyer didn't usually seem to loop like this, in infinite corridors without doors, where one's steps echo loudly as if bouncing off the wall of a cave. But that's where Kallus has found himself. Something is horribly wrong here, and he needs to figure out what.

Luckily, it seems he's not alone here...]

[One of those people was a terribly confused and disoriented elf. This is not the halls of Himring, though how he'd come to be here he did not know. He had been making his usual nightly rounds of the fortress when he'd stepped through the door to the western tower and ended up in these endless corridors and no matter what he did he could not seem to find his way back.

When he finaly runs into another person he's not sure wether to feel relieved or worried, so he simply observes the man cautiously waiting for the other to make the first move.]

Halt! Who goes there?

[Kallus has the sort of voice perfectly pitched for barking our orders. They train that in the military academies, though cadets are more often shouting ‘sir, yes sir!’ instead of giving commands. But given time, one learns just how to wear the mantle of someone who’s in charge, climbing the ranks.

The pointed ears don’t draw any extra attention from him; species differ in many ways. The long pretty hair? That does get a second glance.]

[Maedhros gives the man a searching gaze, one filled with suspiscion, the man looks human though his garb seems very strange and unfamiliar to him. He's not too pleased with being adressed in this manner but he is understanding enough about the circumstances that the only hint to his feelings are a slight downturn of his mouth.]

Maedhros Fëanorion, the lord of Himring. And who might you be? Somehow I doubt you are the lord of this place, you do not seem any less out of place here than I do.

I am Agent Alexandr Kallus of the Imperial Army. And if you don't belong here either, perhaps it is in our best interests to cooperate, in order to find the way out of this place.

[Even if he's not happy, not knowing what's going on here, it seems prudent to work together. Still. Maedhros, that's not a name that sounds like any species he's familiar with. Certainly not Chiss or Hutt or Twi'lek...]

[Alexandr Kallus is as foreign to his ears as his own seems to be to the man before him. Which is confusing since he seems to be human as far as Maedhros can tell. A few moments pass by as he mulls over the mans suggestion, as still and unmoving as one of his mothers statues as he does so. But in the end he simply nods in agreement, it does seem the most prudent choice.]

Yes, that does seem the wisest choice. I might not know you well but so far you do not seem to be inclined to do me any harm. Well met then, Alexandr Kallus, and let us hope that there is indeed an exit to find here. For I have not managed to find one yet on my own.

Edited 2023-06-14 18:59 (UTC)

[What if the hallway itself could come say hello?]

[ It's still better than being bored-- ]

[ OTA! Info in journal (wip). Can provide Eldritch Horror scenarios for anyone wanting. :'D ]

[ fascinating. what a prize this cursed spirit's going to be. let's explore this haunted home, eh? ]

( One minute the lights were fluorescent and sterile and buzzing. Now they're yellowed and old, flies beating paper wings against the dome.

To be one place and then to blink and be another place is something Sunny is used to. Hell, he relies on it.

But this feels ... )

... Basil.

( Not a question, a statement. A quiet voice in a quiet hallway.

Sunny takes a step closer in that strange hallway, reaching for the flower crowned boy that might not really be there. )

[For Basil, it was just as jarring. He'd been outside in the garden, getting his gloves dirty in the broad daylight. And then, so quickly it makes his head spin, he's sitting on a mat, underneath paper lamps.

He looks up and down the hallway at the call of his name, and his chest goes tight.]

S-Sunny!

[Is he dreaming? Did he fall asleep in the sun? Basil smiles nervously and reaches a hand out in return, almost closing the distance between them. A part of him is afraid that once it's gone, Sunny will vanish.]

I'm not sure where we are.

[Basil isn't sure how long he's been here.

He'd just stepped through his bedroom door, and instead of the familiar floorboards and green painted doors of his home, he'd found himself surrounded by trees on all sides. A forest without end, full of creeping moss, and a dark sky overhead.

He runs until he's too tired to keep running, and his knees ache after several falls onto the unforgiving twig-littered ground, but Basil still doesn't cry. He holds it in until the moment he thinks he spots someone in the distance, and then the relief is so great that he can't hold it in, sobbing even as he calls out:]

Help! Please!

Hm. A hallucination? [ Yosano wonders while walking through the eerie and strange forest. One moment in her infirmary, next in the middle of a dreaded forest, trees creaking and the moon casting ominous shadows on the forest floor.

Yosano was set to continue investigating when she heard a desperate plea further in the forest. She followed the noise, taking her time not to trip on the winding roots and rocks, before coming face to face with...

A boy? Eyes wide and frightened beyond belief. ]

Oh. Are you okay? [ She knelt down in front of him; ignoring the pressing feeling that something was watching them. She shot him a relaxed smile instead. Was he injured? Terrified for sure. But she didn't want him running off on his own if she showed any fear. ]

[As soon as he's called out, Basil wonders if it was a good idea. He half hides behind the closest tree, shivering and ready to bolt if anything gives him the sense that this stranger isn't here to help.

But Yosano kneels down and smiles at him, and it eases his fears enough that Basil doesn't run- he just sort of stays where he is, peering out at her and tangling his hands together in a nervous knot.]

I-I'm alright. Just lost, I guess? Do you know where we are?

I'm also lost, I'm afraid.

[ She continues smiling, because, oh dear, he was so nervous. Those little shaking hands. A twig might snap him in half. Which, at this point, seemed likely. Looking above his head, Yosano could see the trees rippling. Little eyes growing on their trunks. ]

What's your name?

Edited 2023-06-17 04:46 (UTC)

Oh...

[Basil's face falls. There goes any hope of her knowing the way out. Did she also just appear here...? Or would she think he was crazy if he asked? He feels crazy.]

Uh. Um, I don't know if I should- you're a stranger, so...

[It's so, so awful. He's scared of her leaving, and him being all alone again, but he's just as terrified of telling her anything. While he's wavering, the forest isn't waiting. Several ominous cracking sounds echo from the trees far behind him, and Basil spins around, tense from head to toe and breathing heavily.

There's no follow up, and he turns back to Yosano, ultimately deciding that whatever is out there in the dark is far scarier than who he's with now.]

I-I'm Basil. Can we stay together?

... [ Yosano thought she was a pretty trusting women. But, she wasn't too good with children. Honestly, they were pretty scared of her.

But the forest helped her out on that one as the blonde-haired boy, who reminded her of an angel, was suddenly more than happy to accompany her. ]

I'm Yosano. [ She stood up. Taking the cleaver attached to her back and grasping it tightly in her gloved hand. She stared out behind Basil. What the hell was out there? ]

—I'll chop up anything that touches you. Don't worry.

Edited 2023-06-17 05:30 (UTC)

[His eyes narrow in on the weapon, and Basil noticeably shrinks into himself.]

W-with that?

[Well, an ally is an ally- and Basil should be grateful, he thinks. She could be leaving him to fend for himself out here. Instead, she's putting herself in harms way for someone as useless as him.]

Um, thank you, Ms Yosano. Should we keep moving? I came from over that way, and that noise is coming from sort of behind me, so maybe if we try over here...?

Yes. And if not, you can be pretty little bait...

[ She smiled. Totally joking, but he was so easily scared that, even in this situation, it was amusing. ]

Would you like to walk towards whatever is pursuing us? Very brave, Basil.

[ Yosano put her free hand on Basil's head and messed with his hair. ]

—Onwards then!

[ She started walking towards the dark and creepy noises into the horrifying forest. ]

Ha ha... You're messing with me, right?

[Basil laughs hesitantly, a little unsure of how serious she is. But, oddly enough, the hair ruffle calms him. It's a motherly sort of gesture, unfamiliar in a way that makes Basil's heart ache. Maybe she really will protect him.]

Wait! That's not what I-!

[Ah. She's already moving. Basil hurries to catch up, hovering behind Yosano.

He shouldn't have worried- they don't get very far before finding something that stops them in their tracks. It's a trio of doors, all moss covered and rotting, seemingly standing upright without any support. Basil hesitates, completely unsettled by the sight, but then whatever is out there shakes the trees again, and this time makes a low groaning sound. It's getting closer.]

Let's open one! I- I think it might take us somewhere else! That's how I got here, so...

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House of leaves

jesse faden | control

Julie Joyful | Welcome Home

nancy wheeler | stranger things

Agent Kallus | Star Wars: Rebels | Voicetesting

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Michael | The Magnus Archives

Iggy Koopa | Mario Brothers | ota

Benedict Fox | The Last Case of Benedict Fox | OTA

geto suguru | jjk

Jesse Faden | Control

Eddie Munson | Stranger Things

Basil | Omori

no subject

no subject

starter for @morsangel

SLENDERMAN??

he's watching u

we gonna get eaten

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

theo barclay | original character

Alice Wake | Alan Wake + the Greater Remedy universe